What I learned from my first BFF photo session

I no longer keep in touch with my bestest BFF from elementary school; we grew apart in high school.

But all the adventures and the regular days spent at one of our houses did feel magical.

All the little projects, the basketball craze we had after seeing Space Jam, the days at sea on my family's boat, or by the lake at her mom's cabin – I have very few pictures of the things we did. And that is a relationship that shaped a lot of who I am. So I thought, BFF sessions should be a thing!

Here’s what I learned from my first BFF photo session:

Start at the beginning

Be with them from the get-go if you can, because little things happen in the transitions like the walk home from school. If the friend is being dropped off at their BFF's house, either join the waiting friend or the one being dropped off, to capture the excitement.

Expect connections

They only last for a split second, before kids are already onto the next move.

Expect unexpected gestures

When little brother wanted to join in on the fun, the last thing I expected was this move! Which again lasted for a fraction of a moment.

Ignore the hamming

There was a bit of hamming and photo-bombing happening once we got to the house, and the kiddos were asking me why I wasn't taking pictures. So I explained to them that those aren't the kind of photos I like to take. That I like to take pictures of when kids are just doing whatever they wanna do together. "Oh, ok." – and the hamming stopped.

Team work

I'm not sure if Lucy was allowed in this cupboard, but I love how it appears as if Margaux is on lookout.

Quiet moments

There can be a lot of chaos and noise when best friends get together, but the quiet moments matter too.

Details have meaning

When the kids are older, they don't necessarily have all the projects that they worked on as kids in their cupboards. Or maybe one of the girls does, but not the other one. These guys were working on a story about two BBFs – fitting, right? They had started the project on a previous playdate and finished the story on this day.

Look for intruders

It was pretty funny watching how little brother constantly tried to get himself in on the action.

Girls are frkn FAST (= don't put your camera down!)

The one thing I really wanted to photograph was the girls whispering. I had a feeling that with two curious little brothers, there would be some secrets to tell each other. Well – there was a second where I put my camera down on the table, which was of course the moment the whispering happened! Which meant I only captured the little side-eye afterwards.

Compose for the scene and WAIT

When you're in a tight space without a wide-enough angle lens, focus on the composition and the surroundings. And wait. And take a burst of pictures when your composition comes together, so you don't miss it!